On this page
In short
- Chatwoot is open-source: free to self-host, or Cloud plans from $19 per agent a month, with WhatsApp broadcast campaigns needing the $39 per agent Business tier
- It is a general support inbox with WhatsApp as one of several channels, not a WhatsApp-specific CRM with a sales pipeline or appointments
- VGraple CRM is a managed WhatsApp CRM with flat plans, no per-agent scaling, and a leads pipeline, appointments and coexistence built in
Verdict
Chatwoot is open-source customer support software: free to self-host with full source-code access, or available as a managed Cloud product starting at $19 per agent a month, with WhatsApp as one of several supported channels alongside live chat and email. VGraple CRM is a managed, WhatsApp-specific CRM with flat plans that do not scale per agent, plus a sales pipeline, appointment booking and coexistence Chatwoot does not have. If you want full control over your own support-inbox infrastructure and are comfortable running a server, or you specifically need Chatwoot's open-source flexibility, it is a real option; if you want WhatsApp sales and support with a pipeline included, at a price that does not grow per seat, VGraple CRM is built for that directly.
Pricing
Chatwoot's pricing page, checked 26 August 2026, lists four Cloud tiers billed annually per agent: Hacker at $0 a month (up to 2 agents, 500 conversations a month, live chat only), Startups at $19 an agent a month (all channels, help centre access), Business at $39 an agent a month, marked "Most popular" (adds voice, teams and automation, and is required for WhatsApp Campaigns specifically), and Enterprise at $99 an agent a month (adds SSO/SAML and audit logs). A 15-day free trial is offered for Cloud. The self-hosted community edition is free open-source software; the pricing page does not itemise server or maintenance costs for it. Chatwoot also sells Captain AI credits (300 included on Startups, 500 on Business, 800 on Enterprise monthly, with extra credits at $20 per 1,000).
Because our broadcast-based team-size scenarios require WhatsApp Campaigns, the calculations below use the Business plan ($39 per agent a month), which is the tier Chatwoot's own pricing page states is required for that capability. $1 is treated as approximately Rs 87 (an August 2026 approximation, stated as an assumption). Meta's own India rate card (April 2026), Rs 0.8631 per marketing template message, is what VGraple CRM passes through with no markup; Chatwoot's pricing page does not state whether its own WhatsApp connection adds a markup, though connecting your own Meta Business account through Embedded Signup suggests Meta likely bills you directly.
| Team size | VGraple CRM total | Chatwoot Cloud (Business plan, required for Campaigns) | Chatwoot self-hosted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 agents, 2,000 marketing messages/month | Rs 3,225 (Starter, Rs 1,499 + Rs 1,726 Meta) | 2 x $39 = $78 ( | Rs 0 platform + Rs 1,726 Meta + your own server and maintenance cost (not itemised) |
| 8 agents, 15,000 marketing messages/month | Rs 20,946 (Scale, Rs 7,999 + Rs 12,947 Meta) | 8 x $39 = $312 ( | Rs 0 platform + Rs 12,947 Meta + your own server and maintenance cost |
| 20 agents, 50,000 marketing messages/month | Rs 51,154 (Scale, Rs 7,999 + Rs 43,155 Meta) | 20 x $39 = $780 ( | Rs 0 platform + Rs 43,155 Meta + your own server and maintenance cost |
VGraple CRM is cheaper than Chatwoot Cloud's Business tier at every size shown, because Chatwoot's per-agent price compounds with team size while VGraple CRM's plans are flat. Self-hosted Chatwoot has no platform fee at all, but the real cost of running your own server, applying security updates and handling uptime is not zero; it is simply not shown on Chatwoot's pricing page because it is your responsibility, not theirs.
Feature comparison
| Feature | VGraple CRM | Chatwoot |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, forever, fully hosted | Yes: Hacker Cloud tier (2 agents, 500 conversations), or free self-hosted (server not included) |
| Entry price (INR/month) | Rs 1,499 (Starter) | ~Rs 1,653 (Startups, $19/agent, for WhatsApp without Campaigns) |
| Per-message markup over Meta | None | Not stated; your own Meta Business account connects directly |
| Agents on entry plan | 5 | Priced per agent, no fixed seat count |
| Shared inbox | Yes | Yes, its core product |
| Instagram DM | Yes, native | Instagram is a supported channel per Chatwoot's general product positioning |
| Messenger | Yes, native | Facebook Messenger is a supported channel |
| Web chat widget | Yes, all plans | Yes, live chat is available from the Hacker (free) tier |
| Chatbot builder | Yes, drag-and-drop flow builder | Automation rules exist from Business tier; a full visual branching flow builder not confirmed today |
| AI agent | Growth plan and above, included in plan price | Captain AI, credit-metered (300 to 800 credits included by tier, $20 per extra 1,000) |
| Broadcast pacing | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Daily-limit budget tracking | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Auto-pause on template pause | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Suppression of capped contacts | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| A/B testing | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Send-time optimisation | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Click tracking | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Template validator | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Template gallery | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Coexistence (app + API, same number) | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Drip sequences | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Leads pipeline | Yes, all plans | No; a support inbox, not a sales CRM |
| Lead scoring | Yes, transparent 0-100 score | No |
| Appointments | Yes, synced to Calendly | No |
| Payments in chat | Yes, your own Stripe or Cashfree | Not verified today |
| Revenue attribution | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Meta CAPI | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| Zapier | Yes, all plans | Not verified today |
| REST API / webhooks | Yes, all plans | Yes; open API, well documented as open-source software |
| Android app | Yes, live on Play Store | Chatwoot has a mobile app; feature parity with the web app not confirmed today |
| 2FA / audit log | Yes, all plans including Free | Audit logs listed only on the $99/agent Enterprise tier; SSO/SAML also Enterprise-only |
| Data location | Oracle Cloud, Mumbai (ap-mumbai-1), India | Cloud hosting region not specified on the pricing page; self-hosted lets you choose your own region entirely |
| Support hours | 10:00 to 19:00 IST, Monday to Friday | Not published on the pricing page checked today |
Where Chatwoot is stronger
Genuinely free, open-source, and auditable. The self-hosted community edition is real open-source software: you can read the code, modify it, and run it entirely on infrastructure you control, with no vendor able to ever change your price or shut off your access.
Full data ownership on self-hosted. Choose your own server location and retention policy entirely, rather than relying on a vendor's stated data-hosting region, which matters for organisations with specific data-residency requirements beyond what any SaaS vendor publishes.
A broader general-support channel set. Live chat, email and WhatsApp together in one general support inbox, with a large open-source community building on top of it, suits a support team that needs more than WhatsApp and social channels alone.
A real $0 entry point on Cloud, not just self-hosted. The Hacker plan is a genuine free Cloud tier (2 agents, 500 conversations a month), not merely a time-limited trial, which is a fair, honest comparison point against VGraple CRM's own Free plan.
Where VGraple CRM is stronger
Flat pricing that does not compound with team size. Chatwoot Cloud's Business tier, required for WhatsApp Campaigns, is $39 per agent a month; at 20 agents that alone is $780 a month before Meta's charges. VGraple CRM's Scale plan covers unlimited agents at a flat Rs 7,999 a month.
Broadcasts included on every plan, not gated to a $39-per-agent tier. VGraple CRM's pacing, A/B testing, suppression and revenue attribution ship on Free; Chatwoot's own pricing page states Campaigns require Business or above.
A leads pipeline, lead scoring and appointments. Chatwoot has no sales-pipeline functionality; VGraple CRM's Kanban pipeline, transparent lead score and Calendly-synced appointment booking ship on every plan.
No server to run. VGraple CRM is fully hosted; there is no self-hosting decision, no security-patch schedule and no infrastructure bill to manage separately from your subscription.
Coexistence. Keep the WhatsApp Business app on your phone and connect the API to the same number at the same time, with two-way sync, a packaged capability outside Chatwoot's general support-inbox scope.
2FA and audit logging on every plan, not gated to a $99-per-agent tier. Chatwoot's pricing page lists audit logs only on Enterprise; VGraple CRM includes two-factor authentication and an immutable audit log on Free.
Switching from Chatwoot
- Confirm the WhatsApp Business Account's home. Since Chatwoot's WhatsApp setup runs through your own Meta Business account via Embedded Signup or manual configuration, your WABA is very likely already in your own Meta Business Portfolio; reconnect it to VGraple CRM through Embedded Signup and the number's quality rating and messaging tier carry over.
- Carry templates across. Templates belong to the WABA and stay approved if it does not change; no resubmission is needed unless you create a new WABA.
- Export contacts. Pull your contact list out of Chatwoot as a CSV for import into VGraple CRM; duplicates merge automatically on phone number.
- Rebuild automation rules. Chatwoot's automation and Captain AI configuration do not export; document your current rules and rebuild the equivalent in VGraple CRM's flow builder, with AI reply suggestions and the AI assistant available from Growth.
- Decide what to do with self-hosted infrastructure. If you were self-hosting, plan the decommissioning of your Chatwoot server (or keep it running briefly in parallel for read access to old conversation history) once VGraple CRM is confirmed handling live traffic.
What reviewers say
Search-indexed results for Chatwoot's G2 listing, checked 26 August 2026 (G2's own page returned an access-denied response to a direct fetch), show 4.5 out of 5 from 15 reviews, with several reviewers specifically describing switching from Intercom over escalating per-seat costs and citing a 9.6 out of 10 ease-of-setup sub-score. Chatwoot's Trustpilot page was fetched directly on 26 August 2026 and showed a 0.0 rating from zero reviews, noting the profile has been claimed since September 2021 without receiving a single review there, worth knowing if you were planning to check Trustpilot specifically. VGraple CRM's own review presence is newer; check its current G2 or Capterra listing directly.
If open-source control and self-hosting are genuinely important to your organisation, Chatwoot's model is a legitimate reason to choose it over any hosted SaaS product, VGraple CRM included; if you want a managed WhatsApp CRM with a pipeline and appointments built in in exchange for not running your own server, VGraple CRM is the more direct fit.